Georgia Building Nation’s First Centralized Prison Surveillance Command Center — With $150 Million in Technology Spending and Zero Public Scrutiny

News Lead

Georgia is constructing the most comprehensive centralized prison surveillance system in the United States — a command center called the Overwatch & Logistic (OWL) Unit that fuses military-grade radar, cell phone interdiction across all 35 state prisons, statewide camera feeds, body cameras, digital mail scanning, and corrections-grade WiFi into a single hub. The system represents well over $150 million in technology spending, yet it has never been the subject of a press conference, a press release, or a single public statement by any civil liberties organization.

An investigation by Georgia Prisoners’ Speak and The GDC Accountability Project — reconstructed from board meeting minutes, Georgia budget bills, FCC filings, federal grant records, and vendor documentation — reveals that OWL’s funding was distributed across three fiscal years and multiple budget bills in a manner that obscures the total investment. No other state department of corrections operates anything comparable. The closest analog, Tennessee’s proposed Centralized Security Intelligence Center, remains at the proposal stage with a $5 million budget — a fraction of Georgia’s investment.

The OWL Command Center is currently under construction, according to the September 4, 2025 Board of Corrections meeting minutes. The cameras, radar, and managed access systems it will command are already operational at scale. Meanwhile, the FY2026 budget allocates $50 million for technology and security improvements but only $805,000 for vocational education — a 62-to-1 spending ratio that reveals the state’s priorities for the approximately 47,000 people in its custody.

Key Takeaway: Georgia is building the nation’s first centralized prison surveillance command center, integrating ten technology streams at a cost exceeding $150 million, with no public announcement and no civil liberties scrutiny.

Quotable Statistics

Total system cost:
– $150 million+ — Combined technology spending for systems commanded by OWL, including managed access, drone detection, cameras, body cameras, tablets, mail screening, and the Data Intelligence platform
– $17.8 million — Funding dedicated specifically to the OWL Unit across three fiscal years
– $84.6 million — Single line item for thermal cameras, CCTVs, and perimeter security statewide — the camera infrastructure that Fusus aggregates into OWL’s operational picture
– $35,027,675 — Largest single technology appropriation, for managed access cell phone interdiction and drone detection (Amended FY2025)

Scale and scope:
– 35 operational state prisons now covered by managed access cell phone interdiction
– 10 distinct technology streams converging into the unified OWL platform
– 25 locations with drone detection operational as of September 2025
– 15 km — Maximum detection range of O.W.L. GroundAware radar, extending well beyond prison perimeters into surrounding communities
– 2,000 acres — Surveillance coverage of a single radar unit
– Zero — Number of other states operating a comparable centralized system

Spending priorities:
– $50 million allocated in FY2026 for technology and security improvements
– $805,000 allocated in FY2026 for vocational education programs
– 44% — Increase in the GDC budget from FY2022 to FY2026
– $600 million+ — Broader corrections investment within which OWL is embedded

Operation Skyhawk results (March 2024, using OWL radar):
– 150 arrests, including 8 correctional officers
– 87 drones confiscated
– 273 cell phones confiscated
– 22 weapons confiscated

Civil liberties response:
– Zero public statements, legal challenges, or policy analyses from the ACLU of Georgia, Southern Center for Human Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center, Georgia Justice Project, or Electronic Frontier Foundation addressing the OWL Unit by name

Key Takeaway: Georgia is spending 62 times more on surveillance technology than on vocational education, deploying military-grade radar with a 15 km range around prisons located in rural communities — all without any documented civil liberties review.

Context and Background

What is the OWL Unit Command Center?

OWL is a centralized, statewide, real-time surveillance monitoring operation — a physical command center from which GDC personnel will continuously monitor security cameras, radar feeds, drone detection alerts, body camera footage, and other sensor data from every state prison in Georgia simultaneously. It is paired with Axon’s Fusus platform, a cloud-based system originally designed for municipal policing “real-time crime centers” that aggregates live camera feeds, sensor data, officer GPS locations, and AI-driven alerts into a single map-based interface.

How was this built without public awareness?

OWL was never announced in a press conference or press release. It does not appear on GDC’s public-facing website. Its funding was distributed across three fiscal years (Amended FY2025, FY2026, AFY2026) and multiple budget bills, with component technologies funded under separate line items that rarely name OWL specifically. The full scope required reconstruction from board meeting minutes, budget analyses, and vendor documentation. The only public-facing description of OWL’s function comes from a state legislator’s newsletter, not from GDC itself.

Who manufactures the radar technology?

The “OWL” name has dual significance. It is GDC’s acronym for “Overwatch & Logistic” and also references Observation Without Limits (O.W.L.), a joint venture between Dynetics (a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos, a defense contractor with $16+ billion in annual revenue) and Alabama Power Company (a Southern Company subsidiary). This means one of the South’s largest utilities has a direct stake in prison surveillance radar. The radar entered Georgia prisons through a $420,216 federal grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Who are the managed access vendors?

Three obscure companies divide Georgia’s managed access market across all 35 prisons:
– Trace-Tek LLC / ShawnTech Communications — 28 facilities; claims 86% of FCC-issued CIS licenses nationwide
– CellBlox / Securus Technologies — 4 facilities (Jimmy Autry, Macon, Smith, Telfair); Securus is owned by Aventiv Technologies, a portfolio company of Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity
– Hawks Ear Communications LLC — 3 facilities (Hancock, Phillips, Valdosta); no public website, minimal corporate disclosure

What is the DOJ investigation context?

The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into Georgia prison conditions in June 2023, focused on violence, understaffing, and medical neglect. The $600 million+ investment and its surveillance components appear to have been overshadowed by this crisis. Georgia-specific advocacy organizations have been heavily focused on the DOJ investigation rather than on the surveillance architecture being constructed alongside it.

Key dates for reporters:
– December 2017 — AeroDefense drone detection first deployed at Georgia prisons
– 2020 — Federal grant #2020-BX-0002 funds O.W.L. radar at Baldwin State Prison ($420,216)
– March 2024 — Operation Skyhawk yields 150 arrests using OWL radar technology
– January 2025 — Governor Kemp announces $600 million+ corrections investment
– March 2025 — HB 67 signed with $7.2 million for OWL Unit, $35 million for managed access
– April 3, 2025 — Commissioner Oliver pairs OWL with Fusus at Board meeting
– September 4, 2025 — Board minutes confirm OWL Command Center “under construction”

Key Takeaway: The OWL Command Center was built incrementally since 2017 through overlapping appropriations, vendor relationships, and federal grants, with no centralized public disclosure — and its construction timeline overlaps with the DOJ investigation into Georgia prison conditions.

Story Angles

1. The Invisible Panopticon: How Georgia Built the Nation’s Most Advanced Prison Surveillance System Without Anyone Noticing

Georgia’s OWL Command Center integrates ten technology streams into a first-of-its-kind centralized surveillance hub — and the state accomplished this by spreading $150 million+ in spending across three fiscal years, multiple budget bills, and line items that rarely name the system. No civil liberties organization has publicly addressed it by name. No press release has ever been issued. This story examines how incremental budgeting and fragmented procurement can build unprecedented surveillance infrastructure outside the reach of normal public scrutiny. Key sources: Board of Corrections minutes (September 2025, April 2025), budget documents (HB 67, HB 68, AFY2026 Governor’s Budget), and the complete absence of GDC public communications about the system.

2. Surveillance Over Services: Georgia Spends 62 Times More on Prison Technology Than Vocational Education

The FY2026 budget allocates $50 million for technology and security but only $805,000 for vocational education. This 62:1 ratio reflects a state that has chosen to invest in watching people in prison rather than preparing them for release. The story follows the money: $84.6 million for cameras and perimeter security, $35 million for cell phone interdiction, $17.8 million for the OWL command center — against a backdrop of a DOJ investigation into violence, understaffing, and medical neglect that suggests the fundamental problem is not too little surveillance but too few resources for the people held in state custody. Key sources: Georgia Budget and Policy Institute analysis, budget bills, DOJ investigation timeline.

3. Defense Contractors Behind Bars: Military-Grade Radar Watches Rural Georgia Communities

O.W.L. GroundAware radar — manufactured by a Leidos subsidiary and Alabama Power joint venture with 48 years of defense and intelligence program expertise — can detect people, vehicles, and drones at ranges up to 15 km. Deployed across Georgia’s prison system, these radar units surveil thousands of acres of surrounding rural communities with no documented public notice or community input. The technology entered Georgia’s prisons through a $420,216 federal grant and has now expanded to justify tens of millions in state spending. This story explores what happens when military surveillance technology designed for forward operating bases is deployed in domestic communities — predominantly in rural counties with significant Black populations — without any civil liberties framework governing its use. Key sources: O.W.L./Dynetics product specifications, BJA grant #2020-BX-0002, Operation Skyhawk results, AeroDefense integration documentation.

Read the Source Document

The full GPS/GDC Accountability Project analysis, “Georgia’s prison panopticon takes shape behind closed doors,” is available here: [PDF link placeholder]

Other Versions

This briefing is the Media version of our analysis. Other versions are available:

• Public version — Plain-language summary for general audiences
• Legislator version — Policy brief with budget details and oversight recommendations
• Advocate version — Detailed analysis with action items for organizers and attorneys